よつばと! Reading club

You’re free to ask questions in the volume one thread anyway. :slightly_smiling_face:

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You sure are! But, before you do, have a quick search to see if it’s already been answered. Go to the search button, click “search this topic” and put in the page number, “page 123” for example. Pretty much every single word and phrase of vol.1 has been discussed but, amazingly, people do still come up with new questions from time to time!

I just wanted to pop in here, as I just finished reading vol. 1 and absolutely loved every minute of it. It’s so heartwarming, charming and funny :heart_eyes:

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I’m right there with you. Picked up the first four volumes on my trip to Tokyo last week, going to start them after I finish Genki II this summer.

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Why not start now? I went through Genki 1, but never did 2, and am managing to get through the first volume. have done other stuff though. Just more spread out and random than a coursebook. So no real idea how I compare to a Genki II doer.
I do agree with what others say, in that it starts out harder at first, then gets easier. First section where they just moved, was a bit of a struggle. But when the random girl says hi, and when Yotsuba doesn’t know how swings work, were much easier. (That’s as far as I’ve gotten) So, if you do decide to give it a go, don’t let the first dozen or so pages discourage you. Almost gave up myself, but glad I’m sticking with it now.

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Thank you for your input! I’ve been thinking about starting it anyway and I still may, so it’s good to hear it’s manageable for someone who stopped Genki around Genki I. My main concern is I have an extremely limited amount of study/pleasure time, and I’m on a roll with my course book studies. I figured if I could get through Genki II that would be a better point to branch off into native materials. It’s definitely difficult finding a balance between “pleasurable” and “productive”!

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No pause this time, we are starting Volume 8 this week!

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Great News!

(Great for me anyway… I go through Ikebukuro at least twice a week… and great for anyone in Tokyo in April!)

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Think it’s now down to you to go in our stead.

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Take some pictures! :open_mouth:

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Will do… if I’m allowed!
:camera: :grinning: :framed_picture: :+1:

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So, today was the opening day of the Yotsuba exhibition and of course I went along! Sadly it was not possible to take photos of the art-works, but that’s okay because we already have them in the books! Plus we could take lots of other photos, and I’ll post a few here.

Good points about the exhibition:

  • Only 600 yen entry
  • Lots of pictures, including pictures from new books and much older
  • A couple of videos showing Kiyohiko Azuma at work
  • a display of his tools
  • every cover, and a video showing how the cover art is created
  • Plenty of big cut-outs and things to photo
  • A huge display of many of the photos the art-works are based on
  • A whole wall devoted to a display of first sketches and story-boards
  • A very well-stocked shop with exhibition exclusive goods!

Bad point (there is only one):

  • Stupid, loud, and very annoying music played on constant and irritating repeat (who plays music in a gallery?)

In short… if you are anywhere near Ikebukuro, Tokyo, between now and April the 22nd, you must go!

PS - All the time I’ve lived in Japan I’ve lived near Ikebukuro and have mostly worked in Ikebukuro too (especially in the early years) so it was lovely for me to be able to visit the exhibition here and lovely to see some of the art-work actually featuring Yotsuba in Ikebukuro too!

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What type of goods? :open_mouth:

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Exhibition-specific canvas bags of various sizes, pencil cases, and t-shirts. All lovely, but all out of my price range! Plus, lots of general Yotsuba and Danbo goods, including figures, more bags, notepads, and so on. I had to hurry through the shop… lingering would have been dangerous to my wallet!

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Noooooooooooo!
Yotsuba shirts. ;-;

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2,700円!

Which would have been okay, except I’ve just this week spent a load of money on Uniqlo Gundam 40th anniversary t-shirts! Why is there just so much good stuff to buy in Japan?!!!

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Is it expected to be a 15th Volume? I should get my Volume 4 in 1 or 2 weeks

I wanna gooo…

Oh yeah, definitely. Just not for a long while, yet. Chapters aren’t released very frequently…

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My copies of the first 3 よつばと books arrived today. I’ve got a long way to go before I can I read them but I’ve set myself the target of reading the 1st one by the end of September. Hopefully I’ll have learnt enough to muddle my way through.

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I saw mention on the Chi’s Sweet Home thread about よつばと being on hiatus waiting for members.

I remember my first try at よつばと volume one some years ago (before I started vocabulary with iKnow), and my lack of vocabulary was the biggest hurdle. Adult characters used complex words, and Yotsuba didn’t always speak clearly. Ena and Miura were sweet spot on being able to follow what they were saying (although my grammar was more limited at the time).

Fast-forward today, as I’m barreling my way through 三ツ星カラーズ (now my go-to recommendation over よつばと for beginners), I think after Chi’s Sweet Home, I may be ready to tackle よつばと again. Since I’ve read it all in English, I wouldn’t mind jumping right into a later volume either. I’ll keep this thread on notification.

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